Eve Jourdain -
Director & Lead Scientist
Eve founded Norwegian Orca Survey (NOS) in 2013. Through year-round fieldwork she has led since then, she has built one of the most comprehensive long-term datasets on killer whales in Norwegian waters. These data formed the foundation of her PhD research and later supported the MULTIWHALE project during her postdoctoral work at the University of Oslo. For more than a decade, Eve’s research has focused on the ecology, life history, and health of Norwegian killer whales, contributing to a robust baseline understanding of this population. Moving forward, she aims to use the Norwegian killer whale system as a window into broader questions about complex animal behavior, while continuing long-term monitoring to track key biological parameters and changes in the population.
Richard Karoliussen -
Co-director & Field operations lead
Richard co-founded NOS together with Eve in 2014 and has been central to its field operations ever since. As the primary skipper of the research vessel, Richard has developed extensive expertise in working around killer whales, enabling the team to collect high-quality scientific data while minimizing disturbance. He plays a key role in collecting biological samples and documenting whales through aerial observations.
As an accomplished drone pilot, Richard operates aerial systems to capture imagery used to study body condition, behavior, and group dynamics. His seamanship, technical skills, and deep practical knowledge of whale behavior have been essential to the long-term research carried out by NOS.
Graduate students
Clare Andvik -
PhD candidate, University of Oslo
Clare first volunteered with Norwegian Orca Survey in the summer of 2016, and has since been involved as both a master student and research assistant. Clare is now a PhD Candidate on the MULTIWHALE project, studying the effects of multiple stressors on Norwegian killer whales. Her focus is the levels and effects of pollution on individuals in the population, in conjunction with other human activities.
Elena Sasso -
Master student,
University of Rome
Elena is a Master's student in Marine Ecobiology at La Sapienza University of Rome. Her master's thesis, part of the MULTIWHALE project, focuses on Norwegian killer whales' behavioral responses to whale-watching activities. She also works as a guide on whale-watching cruises for Whale2Sea and Whale Safari, aiming to share her love for marine wildlife with customers.
Victorine Lambert -
Master student, McGill University
Victorine is a master student at McGill University (Canada) under the supervision of Melissa McKinney (McGill) and Cory Matthews (Department Fisheries and Oceans Canada), investigating contaminants and diet in killer whales using ecological tracers within skin and blubber.
Alumni
Aimee Matika, Tiffany Goh, Emma Høgh Åslein, Ulla Amanda Falch, Carl Fagerlund, Elena Catasús, Kiah Lee, Marie-Laure Veys, Stephanie Milne, Alexander Eckerle
Our ID-Photographers
Vegard Aasen
Vegard is an awarded Norwegian photographer specializing in wildlife and adventure sports. As a wildlife photographer, he quickly gained interest in the new visitors and has contributed with ID photos to Norwegian Orca Survey since 2017. He is now a proud citizen scientist and a part of NOS-Vestlandet. Vegard's ultimate goal is to raise awareness and engagement for vulnerable nature through his images.
Marten Bril
Marten is the general manager and skipper but also a talented wildlife photographer at Whale2Sea, a whale watching company based in Andenes. Marten spends most of his life at sea observing and photographing whales. Since 2013, Marten has contributed more than 70,000 photos to the orca ID-project. He is also field investigator on the Norwegian Sperm whale research project.
Hannaleena Väisänen
Hannaleena is a guide and wildlife photographer at Njord Adventures, a whale watching company based in Tromsø. She has been spending much of her time at sea from the tropics in Australia to Northern Norway, where she's been contributing to the orca ID-catalogue since 2019. She's also working on her master thesis on sperm whale and Greenland halibut fishery interaction in Vesterålen
Krisztina Balotay
Krisztina is a guide onboard whale watching cruises at Green Gold of Norway and a wildlife photographer. She is also a confirmed orca lover, which led her to create Orca Channel. Krisztina spends each winter season on sea observing and photographing whales. Keen on contributing to research and conservation of Norwegian orcas, she has shared her id-photos with Norwegian Orca Survey since 2015.
Olve Erdal
Olve was born and raised in Ulvik, in the Hardangerfjord. Passionate with nature and photography, he spends a lot of time outdoor. Olve has witnessed the recent pattern of orcas visiting the Hardangerfjord on a regular basis. Eager on learning more about who these whales are and wanting to contribute to their monitoring, Olve has been a key player in the ongoing project NOS-Vestlandet.
Simon Johnsen
Simon is an awarded wildlife photographer and filmmaker from the Hardangerfjord. Simon has been tracking the orcas each time they appeared in the region for the past years. To raise awareness of these beautiful animals, Simon created a local Facebook group where people can share their observations live, and thus, facilitate chances of locating the whales for others who want to observe them.